Agent John Ferguson, accompanied by client Sheikh Mohammed, went to $700,000 to purchase Hip No. 39, a Speightstown colt consigned by Dromoland Farm, at the first session of the Keeneland September yearling sale Sept. 14.

Hoosier Park Racing & Casino has announced purse increase that has put purses about 20% higher than they were when its meet began July 30. Thus far, the Indiana track has paid about $30,000 more a day than Turfway Park in neighboring Kentucky.

Gus Koch, the manager of the Hancock family's historic Claiborne Farm near Paris, Ky., will retire at the end of the Keeneland September yearling sale. He was named the Farm Manager of the Year by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club in 2004, and he is a past president of the organization.

One day prior to the Sept. 14 start of the Keeneland September yearling sale in Lexington, there was a lot of uncertainty about how the market would perform at a time when the economy was continuing to struggle. There also were some questions about what was going on around the sale grounds. Here they are, and here are their answers.

If your horse is at risk for intestinal stones or enteroliths (a common cause of obstruction-induced colic in horses), consider replacing an alfalfa-based diet with grass hay, said Diana M. Hassel, DVM, PhD, of Colorado State University.

Amidst reports of horses being abandoned due to the struggling economy, the University of Illinois Extension has scheduled a telephone conference on October 6 from 6:30 to 8:00p.m. to address this issue.

"Horses and other animals are suffering from the economic downturn right along with their owners," said Ellen Phillips, U of I Extension educator...